UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development

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UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development
Organisational change and development (Kannur University)
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UNIT I
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
 INTRODUCTION:
It is a combination of two words:
Organization change
organization change
In any organisation, we have people engaged in production, research, development,

administration, etc. The organisation in order to change should prepare a stock of the situation
and should effect change in their attitude and style of functioning.
Change is a part of life and provides opportunity for growth. It is a conscious decision by the
management of organisation.
 MEANING:
It refers to the process of growth, decline and transformation within the organization.
Organizations may change their strategy or purpose, introduce new products or services, change
the way they produce and sell, change their technology, enter new markets, close down
departments or plants, hire new employees, acquire other organizations become acquired by

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other organizations and what not ! In doing so, they may turn larger, smaller or stay the same in
terms of size.
 DEFINITION:
1. Mr. John Bull defines it as “when an organization system is disturbed by some internal as
well as external forces.
1. POLICIES
2. PROCEDURE
3. MISSION
INTERNAL 4. OBJECTIVES
FORCES 1. TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT
2. DEMOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT
3. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
4. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
EXTERNAL 5. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
1. COMPETITORS
2. SUPPLIERS
3. GOVERNMENT
4. CUSTOMER
2. According to a paper by Markus Wanner: “Change management is an organized,

systematic application of the knowledge, tools, and resources of change that provides
organizations with a key process to achieve their business strategy.”

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES ARE OF TWO TYPES:
1. Reactive Changes:
Reactive changes occur when forces compel organization to implement change without delay. In
other words, when demands made by the forces are compiled in a passive manner, such a change
is called reactive change.
2. Proactive Changes:
Proactive changes occur when some factors make realize organization think over and finally
decide that implementation of a particular change is necessary. Then, the change is introduced in
a planned manner.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATION CHANGE:

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CHANGE IS THE LAW OF NATURE
CHANGE IS RESISTED BY MAN
CHANGE LEADS TO DEVELOPMENT
CHANGE HAS AN ELEMENT OF UNCERTAINITY
CHANGE REQUIRES CHANGE AGENTS
CHANGES TAKE PLACE DUE TO TWO FORCES
CHANGE IINCLUDES PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE

CHANGE
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 MEANING:
Organization development is the study of successful organizational change and performance. OD

emerged from human relations studies in the 1930s, during which psychologists realized that
organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation.
Organizational (or organization) Development or simply O.D. is a technique of planned change.

It seeks to change beliefs, attitudes, values and structures-in fact the entire culture of the
organization—so that the organization may better adapt to technology and live with the pace of
change.
 DEFINITION:
R. Beckhard defines O.D. as a change strategy which is:

(i) Planned.
(ii) Organization-wide.

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(iii) Managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned
interventions in the organization’s processes, using behavioral science knowledge
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Planned Change:
Organizational development (OD) is an educational strategy for bringing about planned change.
Planned change concept makes it different from other approaches for change in organisations.
2. Attention on the Whole Organisation:

This change covers the entire organisation. Organizational Development is the development of
the whole organisation so that it can respond to change effectively. OD tends to ensure that all
parts of the organisation are well coordinated in order to solve the problems and opportunities
that are brought by change.
3. Long Range Change:
OD is a long term process. It may take months or years to implement it. OD is never intended to
be a stopgap arrangement or measure. O.D. is a long term approach (of 3 to 5 years period)
and is meant to elevate the organization to a higher level of functioning by improving the
performance and satisfaction of organization members.
4. Systems Orientation:
OD is concerned with the various groups in the organisation and their interactions with each
other. It is concerned with formal as well as informal or social relationships. It is concerned with
group structures, processes and attitudes. OD emphasizes on the relationships among the groups
not on the groups themselves.
5. Change Agent:
The services of outside experts are obtained, generally, to implement the OD process. In OD,
“Do it yourself” programmes are discouraged. When the primary change agent is a consultant
from outside the organisation, he can operate independently without ties to the organizational

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hierarchy and politics of the organisation. The personnel director is the internal agent of the
organisation who coordinates the programme with the management and the external agent.
As the external agent also works with the management, there is a three way relationship of the
personnel director, management and the outside consultant as they develop the OD programme.
Very rarely, an internal change agent is used by the organisation, who usually is a specialist on
the personnel staff.
6. Action research
It entails what its name describes – research and action. Action research is the process of systematically
collecting research data about an ongoing system relative to some objective, goal or need of that system.
Feeling these back into the system, taking actions by altering selected variables within the system based
both on the date and on the date and on hypotheses and evaluating the results of actions by collecting
more data.
7. Problem Solving:
OD emphasizes on problem solving rather than just theoretical discussion of the problems. The
focus on real, ongoing problems rather than the theoretical or artificial ones is called actions
research. Action research is a very important feature of OD. Sometimes, OD is called
organisational improvement through action research.
7. Experiential learning: or learning through experience
In the traditional approaches, training was provided to the people by lecture and discussion
method, in which people talk about only abstract ideas. But in OD, particularly learn by
experiencing in the training environment the kind of human problems they face on the job. This
approach tends to produce more changed behaviour than the traditional approach. Theory is also
necessary and desirable, but the ultimate test is how it applies in real practice. These answers are
provided by OD.
8. Collaborative Management:

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In contrast to the traditional management structure where orders are issued at upper levels and
simply carried out by low levels, OD stresses collaboration among levels. In OD, organizations
are viewed in a systems perspective.
9. Group Process:
In OD, an effort is made to improve interpersonal relations, open communication channels, build
trust and encourage responsiveness to others. For this OD relies on group processes like group
discussions, inter group conflicts, confrontations and procedures for co-operations.
10. Organizational Culture:
OD assumes that the culture of every organisation is different from the culture of the other
organizations. The assumption that a particular solution can be applied to the problems of all the
organization is generally not made in OD. Instead the culture of each organisation must be
understood and relations consistent with culture be developed.
11. Feedback:
In OD, feedback is given to all the participants about themselves, which provides them a basis
for their next activities. They generally base their decisions on this concrete data. With the help
of feedback of information, employees will be encouraged to understand a situation and take self
corrective action before somebody else tells them what to do.
12. Situational and Contingency Oriented:
OD is flexible and pragmatic, adapting the actions to fit particular needs. Although some
occasional OD change agent may have to impose a single best way on the group, there is,
usually, open discussion of several better alternatives rather than a single best way.
13. Team Building:
The basic objective of OD is to build better team work throughout the organisation. OD tries to
tie all the groups, small and large, working in the organisation, together to make one integrated
and cooperative group. If any groups have some differences, OD will help them to find out the

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ways for solving the differences. The result of effective team work will be improved
organizational performance.
 BENEFITS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Increasing productivity and efficiency comes with many benefits. One of the best ways to
encourage positive results in these metrics is by using a well-thought-out organizational
development structure. Organizational development is used to equip an organization with the
right tools so that it can adapt and respond positively (profitably!) to changes in the market. The
benefits of organizational development include the following:
1. Continuous development
Entities that participate in organizational development continually develop their business models.
Organizational development creates a constant pattern of improvement in which strategies are
developed, evaluated, implemented, and assessed for results and quality.
In essence, the process builds a favorable environment in which a company can embrace change,
both internally and externally. The change is leveraged to encourage periodic renewal.
2. Increased horizontal and vertical communication
Of considerable merit to organizational development is effective communication, interaction, and

feedback in an organization. An efficient communication system aligns employees with the
company’s goals, values, and objectives.
An open communication system enables employees to understand the importance of change in an

organization. Active organizational development increases communication in an organization,
with feedback shared continuously to encourage improvement.
3. Employee growth
Organizational development places significant emphasis on effective communication, which is

used to encourage employees to effect necessary changes. Many industry changes

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require employee development programs. As a result, many organizations are working toward improving
the skills of their employees to equip them with more market-relevant skills.
4. Enhancement of products and services
Innovation is one of the main benefits of organizational development and is a key contributing factor to
the improvement of products and services. One approach to change is employee development – a
critical focal point is a reward for motivation and success.
Successful engagement of employees leads to increased innovation and productivity. Through

competitive analysis, consumer expectations, and market research, organizational development
promotes change.
5. Increased profit margins
Organizational development influences the bottom line in many different ways. As a result of
increased productivity and innovation, profits and efficiency increase. Costs come down because
the organization can better manage employee turnover and absenteeism. After the alignment of
an entity’s objectives, it can focus entirely on development and product and service quality,
leading to improvements in customer satisfaction
 DYNAMICS OF PLANNED CHANGE
 PLANNED CHANGE
 MEANING:
When changes are effected after working out when and how they will be carried out, planned
changes occur. For initiating planned change, the manager needs to constantly watch the changes
taking place in the external and internal environment of the business so that corrective measures
are taken accordingly and the changes could be effected successfully.

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 IMPORTANCE OF PLANNED CHANGE
1. Increased productivity: Planned change help increase productivity and service ability.
On the other hand, change without plan might not help that much to increase
productivity.
2. Enhancement of quality: Enhancement of quality deserves planned change in an
organization. Quality of the goods is the condition of success of the organization.
3. Facing competition: If change process starts in a planned way that can help face
competition successfully. Otherwise it may be difficult.
4. Technological change: Planned change can also help in technological change, which
type of technology is to be installed, that decision is supposed to take through a proper
plan.
5. Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is one of the prime objectives of the
organizations. That satisfaction can also be increased and retained in a planned way.
6. Expansion of market: Every organization wants to expand its business. This expansion
program should be taken with effective plan.
7. Satisfaction of owners: Owners and managers satisfaction is one of the prime implied
objectives of establishing organization. This objective may be achieved, if it is tried in a
planned way.
8. Complying with laws: Some changes take place in compliance with law provisions. In
honor of law provisions, change is initiated.
9. Development of manpower: Manpower training and development is a continuous
process. If this process is undertaken in a planned way that can help the organization to
gain long term benefits.
 PROCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL/ PLANNED CHANGE:

Kurt Lewin observed that people generally do not accept change and if they accept it, they tend
to revert to the original behaviour after some time. To make change have lasting impact, it
should become part of their attitudes and value system. Lewin suggested a three step model to
initiate change in organisations and behaviour of individuals and groups.

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1. UNFREEZING:
Unfreezing makes the need for change inevitable to members so that they become ready to
accept the change. It develops in people a belief that present system of working is undesirable
and change is desirable. It motivates people to move from the old and traditional ways to new
and modern ways of working.
Resistance to change is eliminated amongst members by:

(a) Building trust and confidence,
(b) Enhancing motivation,
(c) Improving communication, and
(d) Participative decision making
2. CHANGING OR MOVING:
Once people are ready to accept the change, change is initiated by learning new ways of doing
things. New information is collected, new concepts are developed, members are trained to
implement the concepts and present perspectives and attitudes are changed.
Driving people to change their behaviour and attitude can take two forms:
(a) Negative:
Managers announce change, failing which, members are subjected to threats, punishments and
penalties. This change does not have lasting impact and, therefore, has to be closely monitored.
(b) Positive:
People are motivated to feel the need for change and accept it as a positive force that coordinates
individual goals with organisational goals.
3. REFREEZING:
Though change is desirable, people generally resist change. Despite learning new ways of doing
things, they tend to revert to old behaviour after working in the changed environment for some
time. Refreezing attempts to make change permanent till there is need to reintroduce change.

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“It means locking the new behaviour pattern into place by means of supporting or reinforcing
mechanisms, so that it becomes the new norm.” People realize that change will affect their future
behaviour. Reinforcement of behaviour is, therefore, the aim of refreezing.
 TRIGGERS FOR CHANGE OR FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL

CHANGE:
Change is the essence of organisational life. Organisations have to anticipate or respond to
change to be successful in the long-run.
The factors that necessitate change fall into two categories:

1. Internal Factors:
Factors internal to organisation are as follows:
(a) Efficiency:
Organizations want to perform better, earn more profits for owners (in the form of retained
earnings), employees (increase in salary and bonus) and shareholders (increase in dividends).
This is possible if they consistently review their policies and reorganize their structures to do
better. Change is, therefore, desirable to achieve higher level of efficiency.
(b) Control:
People at high managerial posts want to retain control over organisational activities. They have
their own philosophies and ways of working. They introduce new organisation designs and
control systems which are followed in the organisation.
(c) Leadership:
Dynamic managers introduce change because they want to lead the market. Change in one
business forces others to adopt the changes.
(d) Internal pressures:

Attitudes of employees also enforce change. Dissatisfaction with the working conditions, pay
structures and inter-personal relationships reflect negative behaviour towards managers which
may force employees to change their policies, procedures and strategies. Change is, therefore,
enforced to develop cordial relations in the organisation.

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(e) Changes in workforce:

Changes in managerial personnel (when new managers join in place of retiring managers) also
require the organisation to change its values and philosophies. Changes in operative personnel
(new workers who are more educated, skilled and competent) also require the organisation to
change its values and beliefs to match those who join the organisation. There may be changes in
leadership styles and motivation systems to deal with knowledge workers.
(f) Internal inefficiencies:

Organisations may change their structures because of internal inefficiencies like imbalance
between narrow and wide span of management, centralisation and decentralisation, line and staff
relationships, internal and external environment, communication systems etc. Improvement in
these areas requires changes in organisation structure.
2. External factors:
Survival of organisation depends on its active interaction with the environment. Every
organisation affects and is affected by others — be it organisations or suppliers, shareholders,
customers, Government or trade unions. Thus, an organisation has to give due consideration to
its own goals and also the goals of those external to its working.
In order to survive in the changing environment, organisations have to change their production
process, labour-management relations, departmental functions etc. in response to changes in
technological, political, economic factors etc.
Some of the external factors which affect change are as follows:

(a) Market factors:
Organisations operate in the volatile markets. Various market forces related to buyers and
competitors affect competitive position of the organisation and promote changes to remain
competitive in the market. Factors related to buyers are demand, changes in consumer tastes and
preferences, income of consumers etc. and those related to competitors are policies of
competitors, better products and suppliers etc. New companies promote diversification, product
deletion, disinvestment, core competence to gain distinctive advantage etc.
(b) Economic factors:

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Changes in economic conditions; exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, fiscal and
monetary policies, inflation and cost of living necessitate changes in the organisational policies.
(c) Social factors:

The norms for pollution, safety and working conditions, health consciousness, geographical
movement of workers, their age composition, education etc. are the social factors that necessitate
changes in the organisational policies. Organisations are the creations of society and have to take
care of social factors in making adjustments in their plans, policies and procedures.
(d) Technological factors:

The modern world is facing constantly changing technology, information systems,
computerization and decision support systems. If organisations fail to update their technology
and management information system, they will not be able to survive in the market.
(e) Political factors:

Business enterprises and Government actively interact with each other. Changes in government
policies with respect to taxation and corporate governance, new laws and court decisions require
the organisations to change their policies according to these regulations.
(f) Natural factors:

Natural calamities like floods and earthquakes also require changes in the policies of the
organisation. Organisations are open social systems and cannot ignore the impact of their
operations on the society. Social responsibilities are part of the organisational operations which
change according to needs of the environment. Providing medicines, clothes, food and monetary
help may not be part of organization’s social agenda but natural factors may require it to do so;
not only from the point of view of ethics but also its survival.
(g) Educational factors:

Educated employees, shareholders, labour unions, customers and suppliers require organisations
to change their structures to come up to their expectations. New employees, new managerial
personnel, new suppliers with different educational levels and backgrounds necessitate
organisations to change their policies to accommodate them.

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(h) Global factors:

Globalization and liberalization require changes in the policies of organisations to compete with
multinational corporations operating in the home country and the host country. Companies of
different countries have different cultural and social values. Since they interact with each other in
the globalized world, changes have to be made in the organisational processes to be interactive
with each other.
 STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE.
1. Management Support for Change
Employees develop a comfort level when they see management supporting the process. It is
critical that management shows support for changes and demonstrates that support when
communicating and interacting with staff
2. Case for Change
No one wants to change for change sake, so it is important to create a case for change. A case for
change can come from different sources. It can be a result of data collected on defect
rates, customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, customer comment
cards, business goals as a result of a strategic planning session, or budget pressures.
Using data is the best way to identify and justify areas that need to improve through change
initiatives
3. Employee Involvement
All change efforts should involve employees at some level. Organizational change, whether large
or small, needs to be explained and communicated, specifically changes that affect how
employees perform their jobs.

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Whether it is changing a work process, improving customer satisfaction, or finding ways to

reduce costs, employees have experiences that can benefit the change planning and
implementation process. Since employees are typically closest to the process, it is important that
they understand the why behind a change and participate in creating the new process.
5. Implementation
Once a change is planned, it is important to have good communication about the roll-out and
implementation of the change. A timeline should be made for the implementation and changes
should be made in the order of its impact on the process and the employees who manage that
process. For instance, if your organization is upgrading its software program, employee training
should be done before the software is installed on their computers.
An effective timeline will allow for all new equipment, supplies, or training to take place before
it is fully implemented.
6. Follow-up
Whenever a change is made it is always good to follow-up after implementation and assess how
the change is working and if the change delivered the results that were intended. Sometimes
changes exceed target expectations but there are occasions that changes just don’t work as
planned. When this is the case, management should acknowledge that it didn’t work and make
adjustments until the desired result is achieved.

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7. Removing Barriers
Sometimes employees encounter barriers when implementing changes.Barriers can be with other
employees, other departments, inadequate training, lacking equipment, or supply needs.
Sometimes management also needs to deal with resistant or difficult employees. It is
management’s responsibility to ensure that employees can implement change without
obstacles and resistance.
It is unfortunate but there are times when employees simply can’t accept a change. In these rare
cases, employees simply need to move on in order to successfully implement a needed change.
These are difficult but necessary decisions.
8. Measure the change process.
Throughout the change management process, a structure should be put in place to measure the
business impact of the changes and ensure that continued reinforcement opportunities exist to
build proficiencies. You should also evaluate your change management plan to determine its
effectiveness and document any lessons learned.
KEY QUESTIONS:
• Did the change assist in achieving business goals?
• Was the change management process successful?
• What could have been done differently?
9. Celebrate
It is important to celebrate successes along the way as changes are made. Celebrating the small
changes and building momentum for bigger changes are what makes employees want to
participate in the process. When employees understand why a change is made and are part of the
process for planning and implementing the change, it allows for a better chance for successful
implementation.

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9. Provide effective training.
With the change message out in the open, it’s important that your people know they will receive
training, structured or informal, to teach the skills and knowledge required to operate efficiently
as the change is rolled out. Training could include a suite of micro-learning online modules, or a
blended learning approach incorporating face-to-face training sessions or on-the-job coaching
and mentoring.
FOUNDATIONS OF OD
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF OD
 MEANING:
Organization development is the study of successful organizational change and performance. OD

emerged from human relations studies in the 1930s, during which psychologists realized that
organizational structures and processes influence worker behavior and motivation.
Organizational (or organization) Development or simply O.D. is a technique of planned change.

It seeks to change beliefs, attitudes, values and structures-in fact the entire culture of the
organization—so that the organization may better adapt to technology and live with the pace of
change.
 DEFINITION:
R. Beck hard defines O.D. as a change strategy which is:

(i) Planned.
(ii) Organization-wide.
(iii) Managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned
interventions in the organization’s processes, using behavioral science knowledge.

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HISTORY OF OD
In a little over five decades, OD has evolved a complex and diverse body of knowledge and
practice. Because this expertise derives mainly from helping organizations change and improve
themselves, the history of OD can be understood in terms of the kinds of changes that
organizations have implemented over this time period. These include changes aimed at:
(1) Social processes;
(2) Work designs;
(3) Human resources; and
(4) Organization structures.
Although these changes are interrelated, each represents a distinct background in the growth of
OD.
1. SOCIAL PROCESSES
The earliest applications of OD involved helping organizations improve social processes

including relationships among members, communication, group decision-making, and
leadership. These process changes started in the early 1950s and were largely in response to
emerging social problems that organizations experienced as they became larger and more
bureaucratic. During the first half of the twentieth century, organizations grew increasingly large
with numerous departments, levels of management, and rules and procedures. Management was
largely responsible for commanding and controlling the enterprise typically in an authoritarian or
paternalistic manner.
Over time, these organizational conditions generated a host of unintended social problems as
members found it increasingly difficult to communicate both laterally and vertically, to resolve
problems within and across groups, and to respond energetically to managerial directives. OD ‟s
response to these social problems started in the late 1940s with the work of Kurt Lewin and his
colleagues in laboratory training. Bradford (1967) began with a training program for community

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leaders which included both cognitive learning about leadership as well as informal feedback
about participant behaviour.
2. WORK DESIGNS
This branch of OD history involves designing work to make it more motivating and fulfilling.
Traditionally, work was designed to promote technical rationality, resulting in jobs that were
highly specified, fragmented, and repetitive. In the 1960s, the benefits of such work designs
came more and more under question. Employees complained that work was boring and
meaningless; they felt alienated from their jobs and the organizations that employed them.
Organizations experienced growing problems with absenteeism, turnover, quality, and

productivity. These problems spawned widespread calls for government, labor, and business to
work jointly to improve the quality of the work life of the employees.
OD sought remedies for these problems in new work designs that were more geared to employee
needs and aspirations than to traditional designs. These interventions were based on the work of
Eric Trist and his colleagues in socio-technical systems and of Frederick Herzberg and his
colleagues in job enrichment.
3. HUMAN RESOURCES
This background of OD involves integrating people into organizations so they join, remain, and
produce at high levels. Concern for human resources has traditionally been associated with the
personnel function in organizations. OD‟s interest in human resource practices grew rapidly,
many organizations faced serious global competition for the first time. They needed to produce
at higher levels at lower costs. People generally do those things for which they are rewarded;
rewards can play a powerful role in promoting performance.
Based on the work of Lawler (1981) , OD examined how rewards affect organization
performance , this led to interventions aimed at making rewards more contingent on
performance. One method that has grown in popularity over the past two decades is called „gain
sharing‟. It involves paying organization members a bonus based on measurable gains in
performance over some baseline standard

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4. ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES
The most recent applications of OD involve structuring organizations so they are better aligned
with their strategy and environment. Such largescale change has become more prevalent in the
past two decades as organizations have increasingly faced complex, rapidly changing
environments that often demand radical changes in how they compete and design themselves
(Mohrman et al., 1989).
To help organizations make these transformations, OD has expanded its focus to the total
organization and its competitive environment. Drawing on a variety of perspectives in corporate
strategy (Miles & Snow, 1978; Porter, 1980; Hamel & Prahalad, 1994; Grant, 1998), OD has
created interventions for assessing an organization’s competitive situation and making relevant
changes in strategy if necessary.
This typically includes a so called „SWOT analysis‟ where the organization ‟s strengths and
weakness are compared to opportunities and threats in its competitive environment. Then, a
strategy is created to build on the strengths and to take advantage of the opportunities, while
accounting for the weaknesses and threats.

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VALUES, ETHICS AND ASSUMPTIONS OF OD
Values: Standards of importance; such as Integrity, honesty, effectiveness, efficiency,

productivity, profitability, service, quality of life. Values are guides about what to pursue and
prefer.
Ethics: Standards of good and bad behavior based on values.
A set of values, assumptions and beliefs constitutes an integral part of organization

development, shaping the goals and methods of the field and distinguishing Organisational
Development from other improvement strategies.
Organization Development: Value-based process of improving individuals, relationships, and

alignment among organizational components to enhance the effectiveness of the organization
and the quality of life of its members, to better serve the organization’s purpose and its fit with
the organization system of which the organization is a subsystem
 ETHICS IN OD
1. Participation, involvement and empowerment

This may be the most fundamental value we hold as OD practitioners. We know that “people support
what they help create.” Therefore, we encourage our clients to see the benefit of involving all
organizational members in decision-making and change processes as appropriate.
2. The importance of groups and teams

Organizations are made up of a variety of formal and informal groups and teams. Therefore, we
encourage clients to recognize the norms and beliefs that come along with these structures in order
to help those groups and teams contribute most effectively to the organization.
3. Growth, development and learning

As OD practitioners, we have an optimistic view of people and teams. Therefore, we believe that

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our work with organizations should help people to learn the skills needed to help them navigate
change in the future.
4. Valuing the whole person
In order to help individuals maximize their potential in an organization, we respect that people are
complex. Therefore, we work hard to understand individuals have diverse needs, skills, and feelings
and respect those differences in our work with them.
5. Dialogue and collaboration
Conflict is inevitable in teams and organizations. Therefore, we believe in using dialogue to address
conflict in a healthy, open manner in order to move past the dysfunction that suppressed conflict
can create.
6. Authenticity, openness and trust
In order to create trusting environments, organizational leaders and members must consistently
demonstrate honesty and transparency in their words and actions. As OD practitioners, we
must model this at all times.
7 Basic OD Assumptions that are based upon French and Bell
1. Most individuals have drives towards personal growth and development. However, the work
habits are a response to work environment rather than personality traits. Accordingly, efforts to
change work habits should be directed towards changing how the person is treated rather than
towards attempting to change the person.
2. Highest productivity can be achieved when the individual goals are integrated with
organizational goals. Also with such integration, the quality of the product is highly improved.
3. Cooperation is more effective than competition. Conflict and competition tend to erode trust,
prohibit collaboration and eventually limit the effectiveness of the organization. In healthy

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organizations, “efforts are made at all levels to treat conflict as a problem subject to problem solving
methods.
4. The suppression of feelings adversely affects problem solving, personal growth and satisfaction
with one’s work. Accordingly, free expression of feelings is an important ingredient for
commitment to work.
5. The growth of individual members is facilitated by relationships, which are open, supportive and
trusting. Accordingly, the level of interpersonal trust, support and cooperation should be as high
as possible.
6. The difference between commitment and agreement must be fully understood. Agreeing to do
something is totally different from being committed to do something. Sense of commitment makes it
easy to accept change and the implementation of change for the purpose of organizational
development is even easier when such a commitment is based upon participation in the process.
7. OD programmes, if they are to succeed, must be reinforced by the organization’s total human
resources system.
 ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT VALUES:

Organization development constitutes various people, professionals, technocrats, researchers,
managers and a host of other employees working in the organisation contributing to the
accomplishment of organizational objectives. They behave differently. Authority and power,
conflicts, control takes backseat during OD process.
 THE FOLLOWING ARE THE VALUES IN OD EFFORTS:
1. Respect People:
People are the main and useful part of the organisation and they are responsible for creating
opportunities for growth. They must, therefore, be treated with respect and dignified manners.

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2. Confidence and Support:

Organizations are made up of people and they are to be believed and supported in order to have
effective organisation. The healthy environment prevails when people are trusted and taken into
confidence and a necessary support is extended to them as and when needed.
3. Confrontation:
Any conflict on any issue should not be suppressed. It should be dealt with openness.
Suppression leads to dampening of morale. Identifying the problem and its causes, discussing it
openly and finding out feasible solution leads to boosting up morale of the employees and
creating good environment.
4. Employee Participation:
The participation of employees who will be affected by the OD should be sought in decision-
making.
5. Expression:
Human beings differ in experience, maturity, ideas, opinions, and outlook. The organisation is at
the receiving end. It gains from the differences in quality, ideas, opinions and experiences of its
people. Human beings are social animals; they have feelings, emotions, anger and sentiments etc.
They should be allowed to express their feelings and sentiments. This will result in building up
high morale and the people will be motivated towards hard work ultimately resulting in
increased efficiency.
6. Seeking Cooperation:
Managers should learn to seek cooperation from each of the employees working under him in his
department. This will develop in creating the atmosphere of cooperation leading to
organizational effectiveness and willingness to accept change in the event of organization
development process.

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 SYSTEM APPROACH/ THEORY:
 INTRODUCTION:
It came into existence in 1960. This approach was developed by Chester.I.Bernard, Herbert .A.
Simon and their colleagues System approach means a group of small interrelated units.
 MEANING:
 The system approach is top took upon management as a system or as “an organized
whole” made up of sub- systems integrated into a unity or orderly totality.
 A system is composed of related and dependent element which when in interaction, forms
a unitary whole. A system is simply an assemblage or combination of things or parts
forming a complex whole.
 System approach considers the organisation as a dynamic process

 Inter-related set of parts
 System approach integrates goals of different parts of the organisation (sub-systems or
departments) with the organisation as a whole.
 System approach enables organizations to frame policies that promote business objectives
and social objectives
 FEATURES OF SYSTEMS THEORY:

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The major purpose of systems theory is to develop unifying principles by the integration of
various sciences, natural and social. With focus on the structures and functions of the system, the
system can be viewed from different perspectives:
 Open system: a system keeps evolving and its properties keep emerging through its
interaction with environment
 Holistic view: systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts
that connect them into a whole. The mutual interaction of the parts makes the whole bigger
than the parts themselves
 Goal-directedness: systems are goal oriented and engage in feedback with the environment
in order to meet the goals. Also, every part of the system is interdependent with each other
working together toward the goals.
 Self-organizing: productive dynamic systems are self-organizing. It implies the adaptive

ability of the systems to the changes in the environment. Using a metaphor of social
interaction, Pask (1975, 1984) described the self-organizing process as "a conversation
between two or more participants, whose purpose is to arrive at "an agreement over an
understanding."

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ELEMENTS OF A SYSTEM
Advantages of Systems Approach
 It concentrates on end results rather than the means.
 It provides an orderly and efficient plan of action.
 It develops coordination of the specialized activities.
 It provides a good basis of control
 It frees management from many daily details of operations management.
Disadvantages
Dependency
Expensive
Time consuming
Continuous
monitoring
Proper coordination
is required

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PARTICIPATION AND EMPOWERMENT
 MEANING: (PARTICIPATION)
Participation is a democratic method of the development process which enables people for
decision-making and acceptance of changes that affect their lives.
It includes:
(a) Involvement of people right from planning to execution;
(b) Enabling people for decision-making; and
(c) Combining and utilizing human resources.
Participative management concept is a powerful tool of industrial relation system. It is based on

industrial democracy and develops team spirit with the employees, and belongingness in them.
This helps in realization of common objectives.
 OBJECTIVES OF EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT/ PARTICIPATION
1. To Make Worker’s Role Important –

The basic objective of employee’s involvement is to make employees’ role important in an
organisation. For successfully attaining the objectives and goals of the organisation, it is essential
to make employees’ involved in the achievement of goal because without them it is not possible
to achieve the goals.
2. To Increase Productivity –
When employees are involved in the decision making with the management, this motivates them
and their morale increases. This leads to increase in their efficiency which brings increase in the
level of productivity.

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3. To Satisfy the Needs of the Employees –

Every employee wants to be recognized for his capabilities, so participation in management
makes them feel recognized and they will be motivated to perform hard work. And moreover,
employees social and esteem needs will also be satisfied.
4. To Develop Human Personality –

The employees’ involvement in management gives them opportunity to express themselves.
They express their views freely at various levels and their hidden talent comes out. Thus they get
an opportunity to develop their personality.
5. To Strengthen the Employee Management Cooperation –

Coordination and cooperation between the employees and management improves the relationship
between them. Employees don’t feel neglected and when they participate in decision making
they feel recognized. And their relations with their superiors also improve.
EMPLOYEES EMPOWERMENT
MEANING:
Employee empowerment is the philosophy of enabling employees to make important decisions
related to their work and take more responsibility for their jobs.
 Employee empowerment is giving employees a certain degree of autonomy and

responsibility for decision-making regarding their specific organizational tasks.
 It allows decisions to be made at the lower levels of an organization where employees have a
unique view of the issues and problems facing the organization at a certain level.

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 ELEMENTS OF EE:
1. Authority – Ability of a team to take action, such as to budget, to have access to a petty cash
fund, etc.
2. Self-determination – Ability of a team to decide what problems to work on and what methods
are the best ones to use.
3. Alignment – A scale which measures how close an employee’s personal needs are aligned to
the organization’s needs.
4. Skills – The ability of a team to analyze and solve problems.
5. Resources – Those items necessary for a team to understand a problem and implement
solutions; also, the time to work on solutions, access to manufacturing engineers, etc.
6. Information – Ability of a team to have access to information, computers, financial figures,
etc.
7. Accountability – A scale which measures the level of accountability for a team’s actions and
results.
8. Self Confidence and Firm Determination – To be empowered, it is necessary to have a
certain level of Self Confidence and Firm Determination.
9. Self Control – When any kind of empowerment is given, substantial self-control is required
10. Faith and Trust – Faith and trust are two important ingredients which the employee must
have on employer and employer must have on employee.
11. Meaningfulness – The system of empowerment so designed must have mean fullness.
12. Task Impact – At the end the overall impact of implementation of empowerment must be
gauged.

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 IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEES EMPOWERMENT:
1. Quality of work produced – When given the autonomy that allows them to make a difference
to product or service outcomes, employees will produce higher quality work. The finished
product becomes a matter of personal pride, and the benefits for both the customer and the
employee will become self-evident.
2. Satisfied employees – Various studies have shown that empowered employees are more
satisfied in their work, and less likely to seek employment elsewhere. This decreases
employment costs and the need for training of new staff.
3. Collaboration grows – With increased confidence; employees are more willing to share
information and best practices with others. Honesty and openness increase, and this directly
impacts the ability of people to work as part of a team. Participation becomes more active and
proactive, and this greater collaboration will in itself feed through to organizational capability to
achieve strategic goals.
4. Productivity increases – As confidence and self-esteem grows, and a more quality focused
and collaborative approach takes hold, productivity will increase.
5. Employee empowerment reduces costs – Costs will be reduced across the organization.
6. Highly Competitive Environment – Highly competitive environment makes it necessary for

companies to empower employees so that they are motivated.
7. Globalization – Globalization also necessitates empowerment to combat challenges of

globalization.

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 EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT – 10 IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
Principle # 1. Demonstrate that People are Valuable:

Regard for people must shine through in all of managers’ actions and words. Their facial
expression, body language, and words express what they are thinking about the people who
report to them. Their goal is to demonstrate appreciation for each person’s unique value. No
matter how an employee is performing on their current task, a manager’s value for the employee
as a human being should never falter and always be visible.
Principle # 2. Share Leadership Vision:

Help people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves and their individual job.
Managers are suggested to do this by making sure they know and have access to the
organization’s overall mission, vision, and strategic plans.
Principle # 3. Share Goals and Direction:

Managers must attempt to share the most important goals and direction for their group. Where
possible, either make progress on goals measurable and observable, or ascertain that they have
shared their picture of a positive outcome with the people responsible for accomplishing the
results.
Principle # 4. Trust People:

Trust the intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choices
that, while may be not exactly what you would decide, still work.
Principle # 5. Provide Information for Decision Making:

Make certain that you have given people, or made sure that they have access to, all of the
information they need to make thoughtful decisions.
Principle # 6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work:
It means that managers just do not delegate the drudge work; delegate some of the fun stuff, too
as well as delegate the important meetings, the committee memberships that influence product

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development and decision making, and the projects that people and customers notice. The
employee will grow and develop new skills.
Principle # 7. Provide Frequent Feedback:

Provide frequent feedback so that people know how they are doing. Sometimes, the purpose of
feedback is reward and recognition. People deserve constructive feedback, too, so they can
continue to develop their knowledge and skills.
Principle # 8. Solve Problems- Do Not Pinpoint Problem People:

When a problem occurs, ask what is wrong with the work system that caused the people to fail,
not what is wrong with the people. Worst case response to problems? Seek to identify and punish
the guilty.
Principle # 9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance:

Provide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them
questions. Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People
generally know the right if they have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee brings
you a problem to solve, ask, “What do you think you should do to solve this problem?” Or, ask,
“What action steps do you recommend?” Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow
in the process.
Principle # 10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behaviour:
When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they take on,
under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, employee empowerment should not be
expected to produce results
 EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT – PROCESS: 5 MAIN STAGES INVOLVED
Empowerment is a complex process because of involvement of human beings whose nature itself
is quite complex. Being a process, empowerment involves a number of stages.
These stages are as follows:

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Stage # 1. Recalling Depowering and Empowering Experiences:

Empowerment does not occur through rigid prescription by an organization; it evolves over the
period of time with experience. Therefore, there is a need for recalling events that show
depowering as well as empowering. While events showing empowering are reinforced, events
showing depowering need change through empowerment.
Stage # 2. Identifying Reasons for Lack of Empowerment:

After identifying the events that show lack of empowerment, it is required to identify the reasons
for lack of empowerment. Often, the reasons for lack of empowerment lie either in
organizational processes or in an employee himself or both. Various organizational processes
like delegation of authority, communication system, and control system may work against
empowerment. The reasons for lack of empowerment may lie here.
Similarly, reasons for lack of empowerment may lie with an employee depending on his locus of
control and self-esteem. Employees having internal locus of control tend to see organizational
processes as empowering unless these are in very bad shape while employees having external
locus of control tend to see organizational processes as depowering.
Besides locus of control, an employee’s self-esteem also affects his perception about depowering
and empowering events. Employees with high self-esteem tend to see organizational processes as
empowering while those with low self-esteem tend to see these as depowering.
Stage # 3. Choosing One Issue/Problem/Project to Work on:

After identifying the reasons for lack of empowerment, concrete steps have to be taken for
overcoming lack of empowerment. At this stage, it is quite possible that there may be several
areas in which depowering events happen. However, all these areas cannot be covered in a single
step of empowerment.
Therefore, it is desirable to undertake one issue/problem/project at a time. The best strategy to
select an issue is to select that issue first which is easier to tackle. This may be followed by more
difficult issues in that order. The basic advantage of this strategy is that the organization gets
experience of empowerment action which can be applied in critical issues more effectively.

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Stage # 4. Identifying Potential Power Bases:

At this stage, potential power bases should be identified. Since power is capacity to influence
others, it can be acquired by an individual in different ways, known as power bases. Bases of
power may be of two types — positional and personal — with each type having different bases.
Positional power emerges from the position that an individual holds in an organization. Personal
power resides with a person regardless of his position in the organization. An individual’s
personal power emerges from his qualities that are unique. Potential power bases may be
identified in terms of these power bases.
Stage # 5. Developing and Implementing Action Plans:

After identifying potential power bases, the organization should initiate development and
implementation of action plans for empowerment. Empowerment exercise can be undertaken
either on individual basis or team basis. However, the present emphasis is on team empowerment
and creation of empowered teams. There are four ways of using power irrespective of the bases
from which it is derived.
These are:
(а) Increase in one’s power base.
(b) Enact power to make things happen through others.
(c) Challenge the power base of others.
(d) Increase the power base of others.
Since there are both organizational and personal bases of power, changes may be required at both
these levels. At the personal level, training and development activities can be undertaken to
enable employees to assume more power. At the organizational level, changes can be brought in
those organizational factors which are responsible for de-empowerment.
 ADVANTAGES OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT INCLUDE:

1. Increased employee education and training;
2. Employees participate in creating their own goals;
3. Increased employee contribution;

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4. Increased respect among employees secondary to teamwork;
5. Increased power equals lower absenteeism and better productivity;
6. Employees have more satisfying work;
7. An increased depth of competence among employees secondary to cross-training;
8. Less conflict with administration and managers; and
9. A few middle management positions mean decreased cost to the company.
Employees are more likely to agree with changes if they participate in decision making.
 EMPOWERMENT BENEFITS THE ORGANISATION, EMPLOYEES AND

MANAGERS FOR ORGANISATION:
Empowerment benefits the organisation by–
i. Creating an environment which encourages proactively problem solving, accepting challenge,
innovation, continuous improvement, optimum utilization of employees
ii. A high degree of employee motivation and enhancement of business performance.
For Employees:
For employees empowerment provides a sense of high self-esteem, high degree of involvement
and participation, a learning environment opportunity for personal growth and development and
a greater sense of achievement.
For Managers:
Managers can think of empowerment process as involving in several stages. Managers can
assume additional and new responsibilities. The managers of the empowered organisations will
have greater commitment towards the organisation.
 DISADVANTAGES OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT INCLUDE:
1. Employees can abuse the increased power given to them;
2. It is too much responsibility for some employees;

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3. Employees who focus on their own success rather than group’s may leave;
4. Managers must be better trained to facilitate through sharing of information, cooperation, and
referrals to appropriate resources; all employees must “buy in” to the concept for it to be
effective;
5. There is an increased cost to the organization for training and education;
6. There is increased time in groups or committees which takes away from regular jobs.
 CHALLENGES IN EE:
Challenge # 1. Confusion:
Employees are encouraged to think on their own and take their own decisions. But this may
cause confusion and chaos in organizations where employees are traditionally trained to take
orders from superiors. This can also give rise to disagreements among co-workers if they are
unable to take a unanimous decision.
Challenge # 2. Improper Training:

To enable employees to become accountable for themselves and take the best decisions it is vital
that they are given proper training. Each individual should be trained intensively to develop his
skills and talents so that he becomes a more productive and capable worker. But in case
employees are not properly trained, they would not be able to judge the situations well and won’t
be able to take good decisions for the company’s benefit.
Challenge # 3. Resistance to Change:

The people working in an organization can be resistant to changes and innovations in the work
place. Some managers may feel that their employees are not competent enough to take their own
decisions and be accountable for their work, while some employees themselves may not want
additional responsibility.

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Empowering employees would also require some changes to be made in management style. The
managers would no longer be the ultimate authority. Thus, employees and managers may be
resistant to adopt changes.
Challenge # 4. Breakdown of Organizational Structure:

Employee empowerment can be conducted more successfully in a decentralized organization
with lesser hierarchical levels. This would require breaking down the existing structure and
eliminating redundant levels. This is not an easy process. Also it would make it more difficult for
the managers to control the employees once they have become used to their autonomy
TEAMS AND TEAMWORK
MEANING:
The team can be defined as a group of people who work together. “A work group is a number of
persons usually reporting to a common superior and having some face to face interaction, who
have some degree of inter dependence in carrying out tasks for the purpose of achieving
organizational goals.”
A work group’s performance is what its members do as individuals. The performance is just the
summation of each group member’s individual contribution. There is no positive synergy in a
group that would create an overall level of performance that is greater than the sum of the inputs.
 IMPORTANCE OF TEAMS:
1. Improved Employee Motivation:
Work teams help in enhancing the employee motivation. Because work teams encourage
employee involvement, these make the jobs more interesting and fulfill the social needs of the
employees. Individuals are likely to perform better when they are working in the presence of
other people. Individuals will work harder and put in a lot of extra efforts to remain in the team’s
good graces.

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2. Positive Synergy:
Teams have the potential to create high levels of productivity due to positive synergy created by
them. The output in the form of performance productivities is generally more than the
summation of inputs put in the form of employee efforts. There is a drawback of positive
synergy also. Sometimes, managements resort to cuts in staff to use the positive synergy to get
the same or greater output from fewer people.
3. Satisfaction of Social Needs:
Man is a social animal. He always feels the need of affiliation. Teams can satisfy this need of the
employees by increasing worker interactions and creating a feeling of brotherhood and friendship
among team members. Such employees are always in a better position to cope with stress and
they enjoy their jobs more.
4. Commitment to Team Goals:
Teams generally develop a common purpose, commitment to that purpose and agreement upon
specific goals. All this combined with the social pressures exerted by the team; result in a high
degree of commitment to common team goals. The individual members sublimate their
individual goals for the common goals of the group.
5. Improved Organisational Communication:
As the teams encourage interactions, it will lead to improved communication. In case of self
managed teams, interpersonal dependencies are created which require the members to interact
considerably more than when they work on jobs alone. Cross functional teams create inter-
functional dependencies and increase organisation wide communication.
6. Benefits of Expanded Job Training:
The implementation of team work always leads to expanded job training. Through this training
employees build their technical, decision making and interpersonal skills.

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7. Organisational Flexibility:
Management has found that teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than are
traditional departments or other forms of permanent groupings. Teams have the capability to
quickly assemble, deploy, refocus and disband. All this is because of the reason that teams focus
on processes rather than functions. They encourage cross training so members can do each
other’s jobs and expansion of skills. This expansion of skills increases organisational flexibility.
Though the introduction of teams does not always achieve these benefits, but we can’t ignore the
reality that team movement currently has tremendous momentum and reflects management’s
belief that teams can be successful in a wide range of settings. There are obviously contingency
factors that influence the acceptance and success of teams.
 THE MOST ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS FOR CREATING EFFECTIVE TEAMS:
1. Ideal Size and Membership.
The team should be the minimum size needed to achieve the team’s goals and include
members with the right mix of skills and talents to get the job done.
2. Fairness in Decision-Making
Ideally, teams will make decisions by consensus. When consensus is not feasible, teams will
use fair decision-making procedures that everyone agrees on.
3. Creativity
Effective teams value original thinking and will produce new and unique approaches to
organizational problems.
4. Accountability
Members must be accountable to each other for getting their work done on schedule and
following the group’s rules and procedures.
5. Purpose and Goals

Every team member must clearly understand the purpose and goals for bringing this
particular group of individuals together.

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6. Action Plans
Help the team determine what advice, assistance, training, materials, and other resources it
may be needed.
7. Roles & Responsibilities

Teams operate most efficiently if they tap everyone’s talents. All members understand their
own duties and know who is responsible for what.
8. Information Sharing
Effective discussions depend upon how well information is passed between team members –
hoarding information cannot be tolerated. A proliferation of new technologies has made this
easier than it has ever been.
9. Good Data
With information sharing comes the requirement for good data. Teams that use good data for
problem-solving and decision making have a much easier time arriving at permanent
solutions to problems.
10. Meeting Skills and Practices

All team members must commit to a common method for conducting meetings. There is no
‘best’ method, but everyone must be on the same page.
11. Decision Making

This is really a subset of the ‘Skills & Practices’. There is no ‘one way’ to reach a decision,
but it must be a recognized path and transparent to all team members.
12. Participation
Since every team member has a stake In the group’s achievements, everyone should
participate in discussions and decisions, share a commitment to the team’s success, and
contribute their talents.

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13. Ground Rules

Groups invariably establish ground rules (or “norms”) for what will and will not be tolerated
within the group. Many members will want to skip the laying of ground rules, but in the long
run investment up front will head off major issues down the road.
14. Clear Roles

How we apportion the team purpose will in large measure determine the- team synergy.
High-performing teams leverage individuals’ different roles against collective work products.
Therefore, it is essential that every team member is clear about his or her own role as well as
the role of every other team member. Roles are about the design, division, and deployment of
the work of the team.
While the concept is compellingly logical, many teams find it challenging to implement.
There is often a tendency to take role definition to extremes or not to take it far enough.
15. Accepted Leadership

High-performance teams need competent leadership. When such leadership is lacking,
groups can quickly lose their way. Whereas a common, compelling task might be the biggest
contributor to team effectiveness, inadequate team leadership is often the single biggest
reason for team ineffectiveness.
In most organizational settings, it is the leader who frames the team purpose and facilitates
discussions on its meaning and nature. The vision, commitment, and communication of the
leader govern the optics through which individual team members see the team purpose and
become aligned to it.
16. Effective Processes

Teams and processes go together. It would never occur to a surgical team, construction crew,
string quartet, or film crew to approach tasks without clearly defined processes. The
playbook of a football team or the score sheet of a string quartet clearly outlines the
necessary processes.
Business teams have processes as well, which might include solving problems, making
decisions, managing a meeting, or designing a product.

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17. Solid Relationships

One of the biggest misperceptions in the world of teams and teamwork is the belief that to
work and communicate effectively, team members must be friends.
In fact, the diversity of skills, experience, and knowledge needed to divide tasks effectively
almost precludes high levels of friendship, which is most often based on commonality — of
the way people think, their interests, or beliefs.
18. Excellent Communication

Communication is the very means of cooperation. One of the primary motives of companies
choosing to implement teams is that team-based organizations are more responsive and move
faster. A team cannot move faster than it communicates.
Fast, clear, timely, accurate communication is a hallmark of high levels of team performance.
High-performance teams have mastered the art of straight talk; there is little motion wasted
through misunderstanding or confusion.
STRATEGIES OF CHANGE
Here are five effective change management strategies that deal with the human element of
organizational change.
1 . P ro p o s e I n c e n t i v e s
Assuming employees will follow their own self-interests, the first change management strategy
is to offer incentives that will encourage people to accept and ultimately engage with the new
direction of the company.

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Employee recognition programs and rewards tailored to specific actions and company values
provide the “carrot” some workers need to buy into change. Incentives also help reinforce the
behaviors and actions upper management is looking for in this time of upheaval. Lastly, this
positive model of change management shows that the leadership appreciates their employees
during a difficult time of transition.
2 . R ed e f i n e Cu l t u ra l V a lu e s
Another way to drive employee buy-in is to redefine organizational culture values. This change
management strategy is based on the underlying assumption that people, as social beings, want
to “fit in” and “go along” with cultural norms and values.
Establishing a culture of continuous improvement is one way to change the hearts and minds of
employees asked to change the way they work. In this example, employees may be more
receptive to new ways of working (and new ways of thinking about work) if they have already
bought into the idea of continuous improvement and the upheaval that comes with change.
3 . E xe rc i s e A u t h o r i t y
Depending on how serious the need for change is, an organization may choose to exercise its
authority to decrease employee opposition and get workers to adhere to new standards,
processes, and cultural norms as quickly as possible.
If the threat is grave enough that imminent change is necessary for survival, organizations might
simply not have the time to invest in incentive programs or culture change initiatives. The
coercive strategy can be the fastest way to implement change — “my way or the highway” —
but it can also breed resentment and opposition among some employees that may become
problematic in the future.

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4 . S h i f t t h e B u rd e n o f C h an g e
Although people are often quick to oppose change, especially change they view as undesirable or
disruptive, they are often even quicker to adapt to new environments. Organizations can take
advantage of this adaptability by creating a new structure — complete with new processes,
workflows, and values — and gradually transfer employees from the old one.
This strategy is best suited for situations involving radical, transformative organizational change.
Instead of burdening upper management with enticing or coercing employees to accept specific
change initiatives, the burden of change is shifted to the workers who gradually (or all at once)
find themselves in the confines of a new organization. Once there, employees are faced with the
prospect of adapting to new circumstances or being left behind to “die on the vine” with the old
organization.
5 . R e c ru i t C h a m p i o n s o f Ch a n g e
Radical change is often met with a high degree of resistance, but the odds of success can be
improved if the voices championing change belong to workers and not solely upper management.
Recruiting frontline employees to share the need for change (and the benefits) with their peers
can speed up worker buy-in, lower the degree of resistance, and serve as a mechanism for
collecting feedback and disseminating information regarding the planned change initiative
 INTER-DISCIPLINARY NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Planned Change:
Organizational development (OD) is an educational strategy for bringing about planned change.
Planned change concept makes it different from other approaches for change in organisations.
2. Attention on the Whole Organisation:

This change covers the entire organisation. Organizational Development is the development of
the whole organisation so that it can respond to change effectively. OD tends to ensure that all

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parts of the organisation are well coordinated in order to solve the problems and opportunities
that are brought by change.
3. Long Range Change:
OD is a long term process. It may take months or years to implement it. OD is never intended to
be a stopgap arrangement or measure. O.D. is a long term approach (of 3 to 5 years period)
and is meant to elevate the organization to a higher level of functioning by improving the
performance and satisfaction of organization members.
4. Systems Orientation:
OD is concerned with the various groups in the organisation and their interactions with each
other. It is concerned with formal as well as informal or social relationships. It is concerned with
group structures, processes and attitudes. OD emphasizes on the relationships among the groups
not on the groups themselves.
5. Change Agent:
The services of outside experts are obtained, generally, to implement the OD process. In OD,
“Do it yourself” programmes are discouraged. When the primary change agent is a consultant
from outside the organisation, he can operate independently without ties to the organizational
hierarchy and politics of the organisation. The personnel director is the internal agent of the
organisation who coordinates the programme with the management and the external agent.
As the external agent also works with the management, there is a three way relationship of the
personnel director, management and the outside consultant as they develop the OD programme.
Very rarely, an internal change agent is used by the organisation, who usually is a specialist on
the personnel staff.

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6. Action research
It entails what its name describes – research and action. Action research is the process of systematically
collecting research data about an ongoing system relative to some objective, goal or need of that system.
Feeling these back into the system, taking actions by altering selected variables within the system based
both on the date and on the date and on hypotheses and evaluating the results of actions by collecting
more data.
8. Problem Solving:
OD emphasizes on problem solving rather than just theoretical discussion of the problems. The
focus on real, ongoing problems rather than the theoretical or artificial ones is called actions
research. Action research is a very important feature of OD. Sometimes, OD is called
organisational improvement through action research.
9. Experiential learning: or learning through experience
In the traditional approaches, training was provided to the people by lecture and discussion
method, in which people talk about only abstract ideas. But in OD, particularly learn by
experiencing in the training environment the kind of human problems they face on the job. This
approach tends to produce more changed behaviour than the traditional approach. Theory is also
necessary and desirable, but the ultimate test is how it applies in real practice. These answers are
provided by OD.
10. Collaborative Management:
In contrast to the traditional management structure where orders are issued at upper levels and
simply carried out by low levels, OD stresses collaboration among levels. In OD, organizations
are viewed in a systems perspective.
11. Group Process:
In OD, an effort is made to improve interpersonal relations, open communication channels, build
trust and encourage responsiveness to others. For this OD relies on group processes like group
discussions, inter group conflicts, confrontations and procedures for co-operations.

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12. Organizational Culture:
OD assumes that the culture of every organisation is different from the

culture of the other organizations. The assumption that a particular solution
can be applied to the problems of all the organization is generally not made
in OD. Instead the culture of each organisation must be understood and
relations consistent with culture be developed.
13. Feedback:
In OD, feedback is given to all the participants about themselves, which

provides them a basis for their next activities. They generally base their
decisions on this concrete data. With the help of feedback of information,
employees will be encouraged to understand a situation and take self
corrective action before somebody else tells them what to do.
14. Situational and Contingency Oriented:
OD is flexible and pragmatic, adapting the actions to fit particular needs.

Although some occasional OD change agent may have to impose a single
best way on the group, there is, usually, open discussion of several better
alternatives rather than a single best way.
15. Team Building:
The basic objective of OD is to build better team work throughout the

organisation. OD tries to tie all the groups, small and large, working in the
organisation, together to make one integrated and cooperative group. If any
groups have some differences, OD will help them to find out the ways for
solving the differences. The result of effective team work will be improved
organizational performance.

UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development

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UNIT I Organizational Change AND Development

Organisational change and development (Kannur University)

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

It is a combination of two words:

In any organisation, we have people engaged in production, research, development,

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2. According to a paper by Markus Wanner: “Change management is an organized,

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES ARE OF TWO TYPES:

 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATION CHANGE:

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CHANGE IS THE LAW OF NATURE

CHANGE IS RESISTED BY MAN

CHANGE LEADS TO DEVELOPMENT

CHANGE HAS AN ELEMENT OF UNCERTAINITY

CHANGE REQUIRES CHANGE AGENTS

CHANGES TAKE PLACE DUE TO TWO FORCES

CHANGE IINCLUDES PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE

Organization development is the study of successful organizational change and performance. OD

Organizational (or organization) Development or simply O.D. is a technique of planned change.

R. Beckhard defines O.D. as a change strategy which is:

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2. Attention on the Whole Organisation:

3. Long Range Change:

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7. Experiential learning: or learning through experience

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10. Organizational Culture:

12. Situational and Contingency Oriented:

13. Team Building:

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 BENEFITS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2. Increased horizontal and vertical communication

Of considerable merit to organizational development is effective communication, interaction, and

An open communication system enables employees to understand the importance of change in an

Organizational development places significant emphasis on effective communication, which is

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4. Enhancement of products and services

Successful engagement of employees leads to increased innovation and productivity. Through

5. Increased profit margins

 DYNAMICS OF PLANNED CHANGE

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 IMPORTANCE OF PLANNED CHANGE

 PROCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL/ PLANNED CHANGE:

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Resistance to change is eliminated amongst members by:

(b) Enhancing motivation,

(c) Improving communication, and

(d) Participative decision making

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 TRIGGERS FOR CHANGE OR FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL

The factors that necessitate change fall into two categories:

(d) Internal pressures:

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(e) Changes in workforce:

(f) Internal inefficiencies:

Some of the external factors which affect change are as follows:

(b) Economic factors:

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(c) Social factors: